Engravings

When each Plate is obtained in Generation IV, a different engraving appears on the back of the Plate which reveals part of the myth of the creation of the Pokémon universe. No engraving is tied to a specific Plate; they will appear each one at a time depending on how many Plates the player has found so far, with the ninth Plate found using the same engraving as the first. In Platinum, after talking to the Hiker on the second floor of the Canalave Library, a book on the second floor with the engravings written in it will be left by the Hiker the player met in Oreburgh Mine during the Arceus-triggered event.

Plates appeared again in Arceus and the Jewel of Life. Referred to as Life Plates, these are a set of Plates that give life to Arceus, and also allow it to change its type. Arceus almost died when it lost all of the Plates after destroying a meteor that endangered the land that would become Michina Town. Damos found one of these lost Plates and returned it to Arceus, giving it the strength to recall the other 15 Plates. This heroic, selfless act earned its trust and prompted it to detach the Earth Plate, Splash Plate, Meadow Plate, Zap Plate, and Draco Plate, and merge them to form the Jewel of Life so Damos could make the land flourish.